Sleepless pt. II

The plain, blue sky begins to reveal
Its hidden colors as
A wash of rainbow paints itself in the horizon
The sun slowly bows to meet
His audience before making
A grand exit for the evening.
Light fades to dark.
It is night.

In the small pasture, it is time to sleep
And slowly,
The sheep make their way to the pen
As I call

One -the head sheep hops over the fence,
His giant bell sounding.
Clang.
Two -another elderly sheep makes his way here,
Bouncing in to find the best resting spot.
Three, Four – a mother ewe and her baby come
The mother gently nudges the lamb under the fence
Before nimbly jumping over herself.
Five – an eager young ram quickly charges toward the fence to jump over for his first time
He trips over slightly and stumbles on his landing
Embarrassed, he quickly makes his way to bed to nurse his pride and bruised ankles
Six – the dainty young ewe, the bell of the ball elegantly trip-trops her way by
And I open the gate for her to enter
Smiling at her youthful vanity.
Seven, Eight, all the way through Twenty – here comes the young ones with their headmaster in the lead.
They all hop over the lower bar of the fence, unable to challenge the taller one until they grow bigger and stronger.

And on and on, from all different directions, my sheep return to pass the night, some energetic and others tired, some by themselves and others in pairs or larger groups.
Some white, some black, and some speckled.
Some do flips as they jump over the fence and I applaud for them,
While I comfort others less acrobatic, who barely trip over.
Big sheep, small sheep, chubby sheep, skinny sheep, all sheep,
Until even the last adventurer with the collie nipping at his hooves comes to the pen.

The baaing slowly ends as the sheep drift off to sleep,
Leaving only their shepherd to count the stars in the sky.